Of Masks and Roses
by Dismal Heartache
Summary: Ron's nowhere to be seen, Ginny wants the lead in the upcoming play of Romeo and Juliet, and Draco's acting odder than usual this year. And to top it all off, there's a new 'phantom' on the scene who says he just wants the best for everyone... name change
1. Finally

**Finally**

The train ride to Hogwarts was boring as usual. Harry stared out the window, thinking about his past, present and most importantly, his future. Voldemort had been killed a year ago, along with Sirius Black and Arthur Weasley. Many others had died also, but those were the two who had the most impact on Harry's life.

Arthur's death also had a very large impact on Ginny. Since her father had died, her life hadn't been the same. Her mother was too grief stricken to take care of herself, let alone a daughter still in school, so Ginny moved in with Hermione. Hermione's mum had welcomed Ginny with open arms, but she still yearned for her father's stories. "Little Lottie" they were about. Just thinking of the stories made her eyes water.

So, Ginny was lying in her seat, her legs curled, her head in Hermione's lap, when Pansy Parkinson walked past the half-open door.

"Of course I'm going to get the lead this year. I'm going to try out, aren't I?" and she laughed her shrill, annoying laugh. Five seconds later, Ginny could barely hear Crabbe's and Goyle's low, rumbling laughs as they joined in, slow as ever. When their footsteps finall faded, Ginny got up, closed the door, and sat back down, this time sitting straight up.

"I wonder what play Flitwick will be doing this year," she stated.

Hermione snapped her book shut. She always hated having to put down a good book, and seeing as she was reading Shakespeare, she was pissed. "Why should I care?" she asked in a tone almost as snotty as Parkinson's. "Parkinson always get's the lead part and Flitwick always chooses the worst plays." Hermione opened her book and started reading. Again.

"What is it with him and choosing the worst plays?" asked Harry, tearing his eyes away from the passing rolling hills and lakes.

Ginny looked up from her hands. Harry had barely spoken since Sirius had died. She stared in silence for a few seconds wondering why he had broken his silence for something as trivial as a play before answering as well as she could.

"He's really into... muggle plays," she said, not entirely sure about her answer.

"But, The Ghost of Johnny Brooks and Pollyanna?" Harry asked skeptically, looking back at Ginny. She felt her face flush.

"Hey, don't ask me." She threw her hands up in the air from frustration which was increased by her embarrassment of Harry looking at her. "Ever since Flitwick started the 'Drama Club' and having plays people had to audition for, I've seen him reading crappy muggle books, trying to find his next 'Big Hit'."

Hermione raised her head above her book just long enough to say, "Muggle books aren't crappy." She disappeared moments later.

Ginny stared out the compartment window. "I think I might try out again this year," she stated as Draco Malfoy walked by the door. Amazingly, he didn't have his regular goonies with him.

"Yea," said Harry, turning back to the window. "You're bound to get the lead part this time, after your performance last year. When Parkinson quit because her water was too warm, Flitwick, Dumbledore and McGonagall thought the play would be over. Good thing you stepped in. You were great."

Ginny smiled at the back of his head. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered.

As the train started to slow down, everyone in the compartment started changing into their school robes. Out in the corridor, the normal hustle and bustle of people getting their trunks could be heard.

The train stopped and everyone got off of it, the first years going with Hagrid on boats over the lake. Everyone else went in the horseless carriages. For once, the night was nice.

Harry looked around the carriage. "Hermione," he started, "please pull your head out of that stupid book and talk for once."

Ginny sighed and murmured under her breath, "Great, here we go again." She spent the rest of the carriage ride listening to Harry and Hermione argue over books.

As they climbed the stone steps up to Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione still arguing, Ginny noticed a crowd gathered around a section of the wall. "Let's go over and check out what stupid play Flitwick chose this year," she said, interrupting Harry mid-sentence.

They walked over and joined the crowd around the poster. Hermione, being the tallest of the three, standing on tiptoes, looked over everyone's heads. "Finally," she mumbled, grabbing Harry and Ginny by the arms and dragging them into the Great Hall.

"Well, what play is it?" asked Ginny, sitting down in her usual spot between Harry and Hermione and looking expectantly at her.

"Well, they finally chose a food play," said Hermione, intentionally getting on Ginny's nerves.

"But what is the play?" Ginny asked through clenched teeth.

"Oh, that's simple." Hermione cleared her throat for dramatic effect.

"You should have tried out for the play," Ginny said under her breath.

"Well, the play is Romeo and Juliet," said Hermione, finally, after many dramatics.

Ginny looked shocked. "Really?" she asked, but before Hermione could respond with her own retort, Professor McGonagall entered with the first years.

Throughout the Sorting, the feast and Dumbledore's speech, Ginny sat in a daze. "Me... Juliet... finally," she kept on whispering.

When Dumbledore announced it was time for bed, Ginny got up and left with the others. At the portrait of the Fat Lady, she instantly forgot the password when it was told to her by the prefects.

As Ginny was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, she only said one word. "Finally." And with that, she fell asleep.

**A/N: **Okay, so yea, I know, I shouldn't really be starting a new story when I am still on the second chapter on another, but I am sorry. I was with a friend and we decided to write this together, so I write a chappie, she writes a chappie. Hopefully we can then get the chappies out more quickly. :le huggles:

-Dizzy-


	2. The Big Chance

Disclaimer: I would like to point out that Harry Potter and Co are not mine nor are they Dismal's, and neither is The Phantom of the Opera, or Romeo and Juliet.  
Chapter written by: yaoi-is-wowie21  
A/N: Pardon the randomosity of my work. -; I tend to write without thinking ahead, which isn't always a good thing, but makes for odd events happening later on. So you'll have to forgive me in advance. I have no idea where this story is going. It's technically Dismal's baby.

**That Big Chance**

All Ginny could get her mind around the following couple of days was the play. It was one of the few plays she had actually read before, and she liked it a lot. If she didn't get the lead in it, the school year just wouldn't be the same!

After two days of wandering from class to class in such a daze that the others had started to worry about her health, Ginny finally announced at dinner one evening, "I'm going to try out for that play."

Harry (ever the oblivious one) didn't hear the declaration, having been engrossed in a conversation with Dean and Seamus about the state of the World Quidditch teams, but Hermione smiled at her friend.

"Is that why you've been mooning about the past couple of days?" she questioned, setting down her silverware to listen.

Ginny nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. You know how much I love Romeo and Juliet! This is my big chance to get the lead." The redhead beamed around the table before taking a sip from her goblet.

"What about Pansy though?" Neville posed this question carefully; Pansy Parkinson was something of a taboo subject when Ginny was in one of her 'theatery moods'.

Ginny however, just smirked triumphantly. "I know this story inside and out! Parkinson just _can't_ beat me at this one." She set her pumpkin juice down with a satisfied 'thump', making everyone around her jump. Harry turned from his conversation with the boys to lean over to Ginny.

"Hey. Just don't get _too_ overconfident, okay?" he informed her. "Because that could end up being a bad thing in the end." Ending his advice with a smile, the dark-haired boy became thoroughly engaged in his previous conversation again.

Hermione shook her head, giving Ginny a pat on the shoulder. "He does have a point. Though, I'm sure you'll do great, no matter what part you get."

Ginny pouted into her potatoes.

ooOOoo

The 6th year eagerly counted down the days until the auditions. As one day after another disappeared under the force of her large black sharpie, Ginny couldn't help but become more excited. Unfortunately for the others, this meant more daydreaming in classes and cheerful ramblings in the Great Hall.

But at least she was happy, as Hermione pointed out one morning after Ginny had begun dancing with Crookshanks in front of the fireplace.

"It's nice to see her not sitting around moping after old stories, you know?" she commented, wincing as she watched Crookshanks attempted to struggle out of Ginny's grasp.

"You mean like that music angel she used to always talk about?" Lavender questioned, lifting her head from the Potions essay she was hurriedly writing before the class started.

Hermione nodded. "But you know, I think there's some truth in that now. You remember when we did faeries in Care of Magical Creatures?" She was met by blank stares from nearly everyone. "When two of them got loose and changed Malfoy's hair from blonde to pink?" Laughter sounded across the Common Room. Now they remembered. "Well, there _are_ faeries that enhance talents and such."

"Like muses?" Harry raised an eyebrow. People who claimed they had brilliant muses tended to also be called 'a bit batty' by muggles, among other things.

"Sort of. Actually, yes, really like muses," Hermione agreed. "That's a good connection."

"So, what if the reason Ginny's so sure of herself is because she has one of these, muse faeries?" interrupted Parvati, who had also been listening in and just now spoke up.

"That would be cheating, wouldn't it?" Neville frowned.

Hermione's pleasant expression wavered. "I...Yes, that probably would count as cheating, but Ginny wouldn't do something like that," she replied, though her tone was a little unsure. "Right?"

A loud hiss was heard from across the room, and seconds later a large ginger cat had zipped over to where the group was sitting. Crookshanks mewled somewhat wearily and curled up in Hermione's lap. Ginny appeared in front of them, looking mournfully at the annoyed cat.

"Oops. I didn't mean to make him mad," she sighed, running a hand through her ponytail out of habit.

"It's all right, Ginny," Hermione assured her, getting up and setting Crookshanks lightly down on the chair. "He's just being dramatic. Come on, let's go down to breakfast. You don't want to get sick before auditions, do you?"

"Of course not!" Ginny exclaimed, grabbing Hermione's hand and heading for the portrait hole. "Don't be late, you guys!" she called back to the others, who had gone back to what they were doing before talking with Hermione.

ooOOoo

The following Saturday dawned bright and early --- and so did Ginny. Unlike on normal weekends, she was already down in the Great Hall before many of the others, starting on a breakfast of eggs and bacon. Hermione had to blink slowly several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Scarfing much?" Harry teased as he sat down beside her, Hermione already on the opposite side. Ginny glared at him, an act made even funnier by the amount of food in her mouth. She swallowed carefully, reaching for her glass.

"I'm just excited, okay?" she retorted, taking a long drink from the cup. "Have to be all ready for the tryouts today."

"Don't worry, you'll do fine, remember?" Hermione smiled, reiterating the fact that she had stated over and over since they got to school.

"Yeah. I will, won't I?"

At three o'clock, Ginny hurried down to the Great Hall once more, where the auditions would be taking place. Hermione and Harry had of course been badgered into coming with her, though both declined her invitation to try out for a part as well. The professor's table had been cleared out of the way, and a simple backdrop had been magically suspended to add a little to the atmosphere. Professor Flitwick was standing on the makeshift 'stage' with several other students milling around him. Ginny caught sight of Pansy talking very quickly and amiably to the short professor. What was she trying to do, smooth talk her way into the play? As if.

"Hey, look," Harry hissed not at all discretely, pointing across the hall. "Malfoy's here too. With Parkinson, no doubt. And that Zabini boy."

The girls followed Harry's gaze. The dark-haired Slytherin appeared to be talking to another boy from his house, but Malfoy's behavior was all but cheerful. In fact, he looked like he'd rather be watching paint dry somewhere than be at these auditions.

_Then again, that's Malfoy's normal expression, but still, it seems somewhat intensified now,_ Ginny mused.

Flitwick's chipper voice, loud but still squeaky, broke through Ginny's ponderings. "I'd just like to start off by thanking you all for coming, today! There's a lot of work to be done, but I think that this year's play will be one of my best!"

Harry rolled his eyes, and Hermione gently elbowed him in the side.

"We are, of course, doing Shakespeare's famous _Romeo and Juliet_!" Flitwick continued. "So, let's get started with the leads' parts, shall we? Ah, yes, all right --- anyone auditioning for the part of Romeo, please come up now."

As the three Gryfindor's settled down at one of the dining tables to watch the auditions, Ginny couldn't help but grin. Her heart was already racing so fast, she'd hate to see what it did when she actually had to go up and perform. She glanced over at the Romeo hopefuls. So, one of them was going to play opposite her, hm? (This was, of course, assuming that she got the part of Juliet. And brothers always did use to say, "Never assume. It makes an ass out of you and me." Ginny had very high spirits, however.)

The Ravenclaw head had finished handing out copies of the script and had then stepped aside, motioning for the first auditioner to go to the middle of the stage. As what looked like a Ravenclaw fifth year read the passage highlighted before him, Ginny sighed. He was okay, she had to give him that, but there were surely better actors than him. Soon her mind began to wander, gaze slipping from the guys trying out to one of the large windows across the hall.

Ginny had always wanted to lead a play, ever since her father had given her a volume of Shakespeare's works when she was little. Unfortunately, whenever she got the chance, it seemed that Pansy Parkinson always outshone her. Well, today was when that was going to stop, and _she_ was going to outshine Pansy.

_"--- O my love! my wife! __  
__Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, __  
__Had hath no power yet upon thy beauty:"_

A new voice rang out across the Great Hall, so sure and clear that it took Ginny a moment to register who was reading it.

_"Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet __  
__Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, __  
__And death's pale flag is not advanced there. __  
__Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet? __  
__O, what more favor can I do to thee, __  
__Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain __  
__To sunder his that was thine enemy?"_

"I hate Shakespeare," Harry mumbled to no one in particular. "Can't understand a bloody thing." Hermione shushed him loudly. Ginny stared in wonder at Blaise Zabini, who stood on that makeshift stage as if he did things like this every day, and it was nothing new. Ginny's eyes lit up. So this was to be her Romeo. She didn't know much about the boy, except that he was Slytherin and in Harry's year. That did not bode well, however wonderful he did read the part.

_"Forgive me, cousin! Ah, dear Juliet, __  
__Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe __  
__That unsubstantial death is amorous, __  
__And that the lean abhorred monster keeps __  
__Thee here in dark to be his paramour? __  
__For fear of that, I still will stay with thee; __  
__And never from this palace of dim night __  
__Depart again: here, here I will remain __  
__With worms that are thy chamber-maids; O, here __  
__Will I set up my everlasting rest, __  
__And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars __  
__From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes ---"_

"That's all right, you may end there!" Flitwick interrupted the speech, causing a few people in the room to frown involuntarily. "Very good, very good indeed... Ah, who would like to go next?"

Several others tried out, but it seemed painfully clear who would be chosen. Ginny stared at Blaise as Pansy crowded close to him, most likely congratulating him and telling him how great it would be to work with him, while Draco merely nodded to him and went back to sulking.

"Well, that's great," Harry whispered to Ginny not long afterwards, "you'll have to do scenes with _him_ if you get the part of Juliet."

"I'm willing to risk that, don't worry," Ginny joked back, patting him on the shoulder consolingly. However, this did strike up a good point. If --- no, when --- she got the part of Juliet, she'd have to do love scenes with the older boy, wouldn't she? She swallowed nervously. Oh well. You had to sacrifice things to fulfill dreams.

Pretty soon (too soon, it felt) Flitwick was calling for all the girls auditioning for the role of Juliet. Harry and Hermione wished her luck as she got up and went over to Flitwick, who handed her a stack sheets with different parts highlighted on them.

"I'd like each of you pick out the part you'd like to recite," Flitwick was telling them, but Ginny wasn't listening very well. Her eyes were on the sheets, scanning for a part that would let all her talent be seen. She settled on a small bit that, while serious and somewhat disturbing, always made her smile.

Ginny volunteered to go first, hoping to get the upper hand by impressing Flitwick before anyone else could. An indignant Pansy settled off to the side with the couple of other girls trying out. One was the same year as she was, and the other a year older. Ginny bit her lip nervously, but as soon as she was out in front reading the passage, everything felt completely perfect. All she could her as she spoke was the emptiness of the hall, filled with her own passionate voice.

_"O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris, __  
__From off the battlements of yonder tower; __  
__Or walk in thievish ways; or bid me lurk __  
__Where serpents are; chain me with roaring bears; __  
__Or shut me nightly in a charnel-house, __  
__O'er-cover'd quite with dead men's rattling bones, __  
__With reeky shanks and yellow chapless-skulls; __  
__Or bid me go into a new-made grave __  
__And hide me with a dead man in his shroud; __  
__Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble; __  
__And I will do it without fear or doubt, __  
__To live an unstain'd wife to my sweet love."_

"Lovely!" Flitwick pronounced when she had finished reading, clapping his hands happily. "Very nice. Who would like to go next?"

Ginny hurried from the stage as quickly as she could, feeling breathless. That had been _marvelous_! She just _knew_ she was going to get the part this time, regardless of Pansy's performance. As the latter took her place on the stage, Harry and Hermione were congratulating Ginny, who was wearing such a wide grin that it looked to big for her face. She considered completely ignoring Pansy's audition, she was that happy, but something told her she better pay attention. As all eyes focused on the pompous Slytherin girl, she began to speak.

_"Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night;_" she said, throwing her arms out wide and adding many many dramatics. "_For thou wilt lie upon the wings_ --- Aah!"

Pansy's speech had hardly begun when it turned into a piercing shriek, and everyone could see why. The backdrop had collapsed down upon the girl, and her angered shouting could be heard even from under it. While it was only a large cloth that had fallen and nothing heavy or dangerous, it seemed that the whole room went into a panic. Flitwick, squeakily worrying and running back and forth with his wand extended, slowly floated the canvas off of Pansy. The girl, pale from either shock or anger, stumbled out from underneath it.

"What was that! Sabotage?" she yelped, furious.

"Pansy, I highly doubt anyone would try to _sabotage_ a school play," Draco drawled, sounding not in the least bit concerned.

"It was probably an accident," another student pointed out, clearly not knowing of the extent of Pansy's wrath.

"An _accident_? Well, I'd like to see how well this play goes if more accidents like that happen!" she declared, waving the papers in the air before her.

"Professor! There's a note here," called a young girl who had been digging around through the fallen backdrop.

"A note? Let me see!" Pansy stomped over and snatched the sheet from the girl's outstretched hand. "'This was only a greeting gift. Expect many more like it if you don't cast the lovely Ginny Weasley in the role of Juliet,'" she read. "Why, I _never_!" Everyone seemed as shocked as she was, Ginny most of all. As all eyes turned to her, she nearly fainted.

"What? I have nothing to do with this!" she cried, wringing her hands in front of her. "Sure, I want this part a lot, but I'd _never_ do anything like that!"

"Is there a signature?" Harry asked, taking the note from Pansy without waiting for an answer. The bottom of the message was blank.

"Well, if Weasley didn't do anything, who did?" Blaise finally dropped the question that no one else seemed to want to say.

_TBC..._

A/N: Great. First I had to drag out my HBP to check what Blaise looked like, then I had to drag out my Unabridged Shakespeare Collection to look up Romeo and Juliet. You're making me do too much work, Dizzy. xD I guess it's okay though. If you couldn't tell yet, I'm a sucker for Shakespeare.

Mwaha! Fear my horrid use of cliché! Yes. Anyway, con-crit is lovingly appreciated, of course. Drop us a note. You know you want to.

A/N (Dizzy): Okay, so we would like to get some reviews on this story. As motivation for reviews, we are going to wait until we get 5 reviews before we put up the next chapter. Just comment on how to make the story better, or something like that, and we will be VERY happy.

O, random thought. MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 2 DAYS! YAYSES! XD okay, so yea, randomness.

-!Dizzy!-


	3. Pathetic Phantoms

**Disclaimer:** I sooooo wish this was mine... not even the pretty plot is mine.

**Written by:** ME! WOOTISH! FINALLY!

**Pathetic Phantoms**

"IMPORTANT!

"Because of minor technicalities, there will be second auditions for the play Romeo and Juliet. Those who were unable to complete their auditions may try out again, along with those unable to make it. If you got through your auditions, you may try out again, or stay with your first audition. Thank you, and have a nice day.

"Scrawled at the bottom of the page, as if Professor Flitwick had forgotten and remembered at the last moment, is _Auditions- Sunday afternoon 12-3"_

As Hermione finished reading and adding her own little narration, Ginny looked up in shock. "How can they do this?" she asked, mouth wide open. "The auditions were fair, weren't they?" She started pacing. "People got to try out." She turned and paced the other way. "They are just doing this because of Pansy." Again, she turned and paced. "So, she was bad, that was her fault. Someone dropped the background because they knew I was better! And it wasn't even that heavy!" Ginny continued pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Suddenly, a thought hit her, along with Draco Malfoy.

"Watch where you're going, Mal-ferret," she mumbled, continuing with her pacing. Malfoy stared at her, shook his head as if trying to shake out thoughts, and disappeared into a door.

"Hermione," Ginny whined, the thought in her head making her feel worse by the minute. Hermione looked at her, eyes wide and questioning. "Hermione, was I really _that_ bad?"

Hermione looked shocked. "No," she said. "No, of course not! You were GREAT!" she exclaimed, not sounding at all convincing.

And, Ginny obviously heard that guilty twinge in her voice. She continued pacing. _I need a place to learn to act._ She turned. _I need a place to learn to act._ Turn. _I need a place to learn to act._ And, yet again, another turn. _I need a place to-_

Hermione grabbed Ginny's should and Ginny looked up. There was a door in front of her. _Of course,_ she thought. _The Room of Requirements._

She told Hermione to stay where she was, and entered the Room. As soon as she closed the door and looked around, she knew she was in thespian heaven.

Ginny looked around and saw a stage. Also, there was a corner of the room, hidden by a screen. When Ginny looked behind it, there were stacks and stacks and stacks of costumes, all at her disposal. She turned around, and there were bookshelves upon bookshelves of, well, books. But, upon closer inspection, Ginny noticed they weren't just any books. No, they were scripts. A thousand books, and then a thousand more, written in English, French, Russian, Latin and many other languages. There were some from the Middle Ages, some from Broadway, some from muggles, some from wizards. Ginny was astounded.

Finally, when she got her senses back, Ginny stood on the stage and looked around. Straight ahead, where the audience would be sitting in a normal theatre, was a huge mirror. She could read a script and watch herself as she acted. Not only did that help with her acting, it also helped her interact with the audience.

Ginny started practicing for another audition, reading from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," when she heard a voice.

"Project your voice," it said, sounding like a crappy imitation of a ghost's voice.

Ginny looked around. _Great, all I need now is a stalker trying to take my moves._ "Who's there?" she asked, looking around wildly.

"I am your angel of music. Come to me angel of music." Now, the voice was singing...

_O great,_ she thought. _A crackpot._

Ginny paused. "Oooookay," she said. "What do you mean by 'angel of music'? It's not real, just from a story my dad used to tell me. And what does music have to do with acting?" she asked, curious as to who the peeping tom might be, and yet enjoying pointing out his mistakes.

She heard a cough. The voice then started to sound human. "Di-Did I say 'angel of music'? O, uh, yea, sorry. I-uh, I actually meant," he paused here and his voice went like the cheap imitation of a ghost again. "I am..." _...huh. The Not-So-Dramatic-Pause._ "THE PHANTOM."

Ginny heard a clap of thunder.

She stared in front of her.

She started laughing her arse off.

"You- You're what?" she asked between gasping for breath and laughing harder.

"You- You DARE mock ME, vermin?" the self-proclaimed "Phantom" asked in quite a strong voice.

Ginny continued on laughing. "How can I NOT?" she asked, gasping, yet again.

The next thing she heard did nothing to improve her image of him.

"Stop mocking me!" he whined, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.

Ginny laughed even harder. She carried on for another half and hour before she had finally caught her breath.

"Okay, Harry, you can come out now," she stated. Of course it would be Harry. Who else would pretend to be a Phantom to get her attention? Or help her out with her acting?

She heard no response.

"Harry?" she called out again.

Still no answer.

She started searching the room, yet found no evidence of another presence. The voice had disappeared and she couldn't find anywhere a person could have hid without her knowing. He was never there.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry it took so long to post this, and sorry it is so short. That's what I get for handwriting stuff...


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